An ICE agent with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), watches as Guatemalan police investigate the scene after detaining a suspected human trafficker on May 29, 2019 in Guatemala City. (John Moore / Getty Images)
A man was hospitalized Wednesday morning after an immigration agent shot at him during a traffic stop on the I-17 in north Phoenix.
The shooting took place around 4 a.m. after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the highway near the Dove Valley Road exit, according to Yasmeen Pitts O'Keefe, regional director of the Southwest Division with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Agents pulled a vehicle over and as they were walking toward it, the driver, who DHS identified as Jose Garcia-Sorto, began driving away. An agent was in the path of the car and, fearing for their safety, opened fire twice, Pitts O'Keefe said in an emailed statement.
Garcia-Sorto was taken to a local hospital and remained in stable condition as of Wednesday afternoon. It was not immediately clear if the shots fired by the agent struck the driver.
Per the DHS statement, Garcia-Sorto is from Honduras and does not have authorized status to be in the U.S.
According to Pitts O'Keefe, the FBI was investigating the shooting.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.